History of Our Club

The BANDITS were formed in June 1976 by Ernie Kare.  Five‑somes were not permitted at that time, and Ernie played with a four‑some that had one man who could play only every other Saturday, necessitating getting an alternate, which was sometimes scarce.  So as other alternates became available, he formed another four‑some, and they all played together.  At the same time, Sun City was growing by leaps and bounds and Ernie got the idea that golf could be a wonderful opportunity for newcomers to meet other new residents.

     So he began to recruit new members and kept adding four‑somes until the group became what it is today.  Oddly enough, he referred to members as only The Group.  Somewhere along the line, one of the members began to call the group The Bandittos which name held on until it was felt that our Mexican friends might take offense and so that name was dropped and the name BANDITS has held sway ever since. There is another group in Sun City also known as the Bandits, but they play another day, and another course, and have a smaller membership.  We are the WILLOWCREEK BANDITS and membership is limited to 100 members.

     The original two four‑somes were: Ernie Kare, Ted Gadomski, George Danner, Herman Heppner, Jack Hasset, Jim Nolf, Bill Pozanac and Ed Brunet.

     When the BANDITS were formed, Ernie Kare used the handicap system commonly used at that time, and he would make up the weekly pairings with each team balanced accordingly.  As you know, the handicap system can be used unfairly at times and by certain individuals, and when Ernie learned about the point system, he converted the team formations to that system, which is felt to be the purest method of handicapping today ‑ at least we think so.

     While Ernie Kare was in charge of the BANDITS he was a "one‑man army doing all the ground work necessary and retained all the authority.  In 1988, Ernie joined a country club and reluctantly dropped membership from the BANDITS, appointing Jeff Sexton to replace him.  Jeff held the helm until July and due to failing health asked Kees Grintjes to assist him.  In August, Jeff died and Kees took over.  Kees was the first to appoint a small committee to assist him on matters requiring decisions.  Kees kept the reins in his capable hands until Jan. 1, 1994, at which time he passed the job to Daryl Dedic. Daryl continued in the same fine fashion until the summer of 1999 when he turned it over to Dale Parker.  Dale performed those duties through 2010 at which time he relinquished the job to Matt Fischette. Unfortunately, Matt lost his battle with cancer in October 2015 and relinquished the “Boss Bandit” position to Mike Matusz. Mike took over the “Boss Bandit” position at the end of the 39^th year of the Willowcreek Bandits existence.